large pistol magnum primers used in place of large rifle primers

[rp85]

hello;

purchased a 1916 spanish mauser in 308win to shoot cast bullets. shooting the lee 309-180r bullet. using 18.5 grains of alliant 2400 the rifle will produce 1" groups at 50 yards.

discovered i have 2k large pistol magnum primers. is there any issue using large pistol magnum primers and not regular large rifle primers for the above load???

the large pistol magnum primers will only be used for shooting cast bullets.

thanks for any input.

rp

[Bass Ackward]

I use pistol primers with one condition. The powder MUST be kept on top of the hole. THis means either a full case of powder at low pressure or a filler.

[Bulletlube]

Be carefull they will seat deeper than Large Rifle primers.

[nanuk]

I've read elsewhere that the lower power of the pistol primers actually helps with cast accuracy

[Ole]

Softer cup = potential disaster if you accidentally load a full pressure load with one.

You can do what you want, but I wouldn't do what you're recommending with any of my guns.

[peerlesscowboy]

FWIW, I've shot many 300gr cast bullets in .45-70 powered by 10.5gr Unique (no filler) ignited by CCI 300 std large pistol primers. Dunno' about 2400, haven't tried it with that powder?

John C. Saubak

[hydraulic]

Many of us in BPCR shooting have gone to standard large pistol primers in such calibres as .45-70, .45-90, etc. In most instances there has been a marked improvement in accuracy. Some shooters also place a newspaper wad in the bottom of the case under the powder to further reduce the flame from the primer.

[HARRYMPOPE]

I use LG pistol primers with cast bullets in the 30-06,7.62 x 39 308,8x57,7.62R,303Br,30-40,7.5 Swiss....you name it.Velocity is uniform with powders from BullsEye to 4759 .The last two years i shot over 15,000 of Federal 150's and Win LP in the 30-06 and 7.62 x 54 with neigh a problem with 16.0 2400,14.0 TrailBoss ,8.5-12g Unique and or 8.0 of B E and GC or plainbase bullets.No filler or orienting used.Velocities were never more than 1600 fps with my loads.Standard deviations are often single digit with the pistol primers.i have never had a misfire though the primers are deeper seated than LR primers.
With the current import Win brand 7.62 x 54 cases the LP primers are the ticket as the pockets are too shallow for most LR primers.


HMP

[HARRYMPOPE]

FWIW, I've shot many 300gr cast bullets in .45-70 powered by 10.5gr Unique (no filler) ignited by CCI 300 std large pistol primers. Dunno' about 2400, haven't tried it with that powder?

John C. Saubak

that's one of those magic loads! i use 12.0 myself and its just pure voodoo how well it works.

HMP

[Denver]

hello;

purchased a 1916 spanish mauser in 308win to shoot cast bullets. shooting the lee 309-180r bullet. using 18.5 grains of alliant 2400 the rifle will produce 1" groups at 50 yards.

discovered i have 2k large pistol magnum primers. is there any issue using large pistol magnum primers and not regular large rifle primers for the above load???

the large pistol magnum primers will only be used for shooting cast bullets.

thanks for any input.

rp

If you use the pistol primers, check for pierced primer cups after firing. You will see black residue in the firing pin dimple if they are being pierced. I've used pistol primers in almost all my CB rifle loads for thousands of rounds in all my rifles without problems except one. That is a Swede 96 action that I rebarreled to 35 Rem. It will pierce nearly every brand of pistol primer I have tried. Other than that I agree with others here that accuracy is generally better with pistol primers when used in rifle loads. CB loads that is.

:lovebooli

[Rocky Raab]

In my Savage 340 .30-30, the firing pin is apparently just short enough that I get frequent misfires with large pistol primers. Doesn't happen with large rifle primers. So that very small difference in seating depth can indeed matter!

[nanuk]

Rocky, just wondering if you found a way to "build" it up?

or seating flush?

[Rocky Raab]

The only options would be to set the barrel back a weensy amount with the barrel nut, OR take a bit off the firing pin stop shoulder to increase protrusion. So I decided to do neither and just switch back to large rifle primers. Simplest and easiest fix.

[nanuk]

Rocky, have you tried the "Paper Disc" under the rifle primer?
or have you experimented to find the "Softest" primer?

[bruce drake]

Are you talking about adding a paper disc to the primer hole to raise the pistol primer up enough for a consistent blow from the firing pin?

[Lloyd Smale]

back a few years in another shortage i was loading some rifle rounds for crop damage shooting and didnt have any standard large rifle. Had 5k of cci 350s so i figured what the heck. Loaded them in 4 different guns. a 240wby 2506 280 and an 06. never had one that didnt go bang and the only one that shot worse was the 2506. the 240 and 280 were about the same and my go to load in the o6 that i did MANY MANY hours fine tuning actually shot better and to this day when i load for that gun i use 350s. Matter of fact i just picked up a win featherweight in 06 and didnt have time to develop a load and had a 100 of those loaded so i figured id sight it in with them and the first two 5 shot groups went under an inch. Ive also loaded a pile of 556 in that same time period with cci small pistol mag primers again because thats all i had and never had a lick of problem with them.

[milkman]

i was having shoulder setback problems on a 35 Whelen with hunting loads producing 28K pressure. It would leave the primer partially backed out after firing. I was told by folks who knew a lot more than I did, on this fourm,that I needed to try pistol primers. After arguing like a spoiled 16 year old that could not possibly be the problem, I tried the pistol primers and the problem went away. Never have had a problem since and I still use pistol primers with that load.

[Forrest r]

Depends on how strong your striker spring is and how far the fp protrudes out the bolt face.

I have a cil 950T 308w target rifle that has no problem piercing pistol primers. Which isn't a good thing the heat/burn from the pierced primer will pit/etch the fp and bolt face.

[Alferd Packer]

Are you talking about adding a paper disc to the primer hole to raise the pistol primer up enough for a consistent blow from the firing pin?

I think you might get misfires using a paper disk.
A thin metal washer would be better for the anvil to seat against.
Kinda like the paper would cushion the blow of the firing pin against the anvil I think.

[farmbif]

I was thinking about this earlier, I forget how many years ago, it wasn't that long ago seller belot S&B primers were being sold off kinda real cheap, like $100/5000
and on their information it was saying something like the lr primers were good for calibers like 44 mag, 41mag, 45 colt ect. there was lots of cross over in rifle and pistol rounds for these primers it seemed like.

[M-Tecs]

As noted LP primers are shorter than LR. They normally also have thinner cups. That being said if you keep the pressures under 35K you won't have any blanking or piercing issues with LP.

[dannyd]

I trimmed out the cup on some 357 magnum and used WLR primers. They worked very good; standard deviation was better than using small pistol primers.